MVC3 Value cannot be null. Parameter name: value - asp.net-mvc-3

Question

I am trying to load data of a user edit it and then save it. this has been working and im not quite sure what i changed but now i am getting the following error...
Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: value
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.
Exception Details: System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: value
Source Error:
An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.
Stack Trace:
[ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: value]
System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.ValidationContext.set_DisplayName(String value) +51903
System.Web.Mvc.<Validate>d__1.MoveNext() +135
System.Web.Mvc.<Validate>d__5.MoveNext() +318
System.Web.Mvc.DefaultModelBinder.OnModelUpdated(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext) +139
System.Web.Mvc.DefaultModelBinder.BindComplexElementalModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext, Object model) +66
System.Web.Mvc.DefaultModelBinder.BindComplexModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext) +1367
System.Web.Mvc.DefaultModelBinder.BindModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext) +449
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.GetParameterValue(ControllerContext controllerContext, ParameterDescriptor parameterDescriptor) +317
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.GetParameterValues(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionDescriptor actionDescriptor) +117
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeAction(ControllerContext controllerContext, String actionName) +343
System.Web.Mvc.Controller.ExecuteCore() +116
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerBase.Execute(RequestContext requestContext) +97
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerBase.System.Web.Mvc.IController.Execute(RequestContext requestContext) +10
System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClassb.<BeginProcessRequest>b__5() +37
System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass1.<MakeVoidDelegate>b__0() +21
System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass8`1.<BeginSynchronous>b__7(IAsyncResult _) +12
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult`1.End() +62
System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClasse.<EndProcessRequest>b__d() +50
System.Web.Mvc.SecurityUtil.<GetCallInAppTrustThunk>b__0(Action f) +7
System.Web.Mvc.SecurityUtil.ProcessInApplicationTrust(Action action) +22
System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +60
System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result) +9
System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +8897857
System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +184
public ActionResult EditDetails()
{
int id = Convert.ToInt32(Session["user"]);
S1_Customers u1_users = storeDB.S1_Customers.Find(id);
return View(u1_users);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult EditDetails(S1_Customers u1_users)
{
var Pcode = "";
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
I am not even reaching ModelState.IsValid when i click submit

Answer 1

Did you change any names? The form names have to map 1-1 with your Action parameters. In this case, the "name" parameter was not passed to the controller action, so it is null.
Wild guess, need more information (method signature of action)

Answer 2

You'll receive that error if you have some properties decorated by DisplayAttribute with empty Name
([DisplayAttribute(Name = "", Description = "Any description")])

Answer 3

If you use [Display(Name="")] as for properties of your model, This will cause the error you get. To solve this problem, you should avoid using empty display name attribute.
[Display(Name = "")] //this line is the cause of error
public string PromotionCode { get; set; }

Answer 4

It could most probably be that your model has a property that returns a non-nullable value, like int, DateTime, double etc. And if user is updating the entry you are probably not storing that value in a hidden field or somewhere, so when the data is returned that particular property is null. Either place that property into a hidden field or make your property nullable in a model by changing int to int?, etc.

Answer 5

I was getting this same error message when manually setting a #Html.TextArea, I had used the code from an #Html.TextBox(null, this.Model) in an EditorTemplate and when I did #Html.TextArea(null, this.Model) I got the error above.
Turns out you have to do #Html.TextArea("", this.Model) and it works.